Scottish Executive

Adult Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what qualifications it requires of a person who takes a class of four or five people in adult basic education.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I have asked Angiolina Foster Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  At present, it is for each local adult literacy and numeracy partnership to set its own criteria for selecting staff in this field and check them through Disclosure Scotland. The standard and quality of delivery is monitored through the Department of Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning’s action planning process.

  The report Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland (2001) recommended the development of national standards for staff and volunteers and Communities Scotland is currently developing a training framework and qualifications for staff involved in delivering adult literacies. As an initial measure a Professional Development Award, Introductory Training in Adult Literacies Learning, which outlines basic principles in adult literacies and is aimed at tutor assistants is being rolled out in local partnerships.

Bridges

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on reviewing bridge tolls.

Nicol Stephen: We have stated in our partnership agreement that we are committed to reviewing existing tolls on the Erskine, Forth, Skye and Tay road bridges. The review is being carried out in two phases. The first phase will deal with existing tolls including the way they help achieve environmental objectives. The 2nd phase will look at the management of the tolled bridges in the context of the partnership commitment to establishing Transport Scotland and Regional Transport Partnerships as set out in our transport white paper – Scotland’s transport future .

  Work on the review is well advanced and I expect to receive a report on the 1st phase of the review this autumn.

Communities

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives to Chinese community organisations.

Ms Margaret Curran: Chinese voluntary and community groups have received financial support as follows:

  

2001-02
£33,774


2002-03
£37,637


2003-04
£57,803


2004-05
£51,065



  This is provided through grant schemes administered on behalf of the Scottish Executive by the Voluntary Action Fund (VAF). In 2005-06, further grant funding of £50,990 will be provided through VAF. Fuller details of the grants provided are given at Annex A.

  Annex A

  Ethnic Minorities Grant Scheme - List of Chinese Funded Projects

  

2001–02


Aberdeen Elderly Chinese Association:
£15,933


To assist the elderly Chinese community to make best use of mainstream services and raise awareness of their need within these service providers.


Lanarkshire Chinese Association
£17,841


To support the Chinese community in Lanarkshire by developing a drop-in and advice and information centre.


Total
£33,774


2002-03


Aberdeen Elderly Chinese Association
£15,244


To assist the elderly Chinese community to make best use of mainstream services and raise awareness of their need within these service providers.


Lanarkshire Chinese Association
£8,838


To support the Chinese community in Lanarkshire by developing a drop-in and advice and information centre.


Chinese Community Development Partnership, Glasgow
£1,335


Training of Management Committee


Lanarkshire Chinese Association
£500


Project management training


Chinese Carers Group, Glasgow
£2,000


Exchange visit and project management training


The Association of Chinese Parents, Edinburgh
£3,130


To cover running costs of the organisation and also to purchase office equipment


Edinburgh Chinese School
£4,650


To cover the costs of training volunteers in IT skills


Aberdeen Chinese Family Welfare Association
£1,940


To cover running costs.


Total
£37,637


2003–04


Aberdeen Elderly Chinese Association
£15,500


To assist the elderly Chinese community to make best use of mainstream services and raise awareness of their need within these service providers.


Youth Counselling Services Agency
£29,080


To assist families and young people from the Chinese Community to access counselling information and advice.


Chinese Community Development Partnership, Glasgow
£2,000


Training on business and development planning


Kut o Lok Fu Chinese Group, Ayrshire
£1,000


Exchange visit


Aberdeen Chinese Women Association
£2,000


Training the Management Committee in project management
 


Kut O Luk Fu Chinese Group, Ayrshire
£4,000


To cover running costs and provide training for staff, volunteers and board members.


Fife Chinese Older-People Association
£1,223


To cover the running costs of the organisation and to recruit more volunteers.


Aberdeen Chinese Women Association
£3,000


To cover running costs and provide training for the group.


Total
£57,803


2004-05


Youth Counselling Services Agency, Glasgow
£28,069


To assist families and young people from the Chinese Community to access counselling information and advice.


Chinese Community Development Partnership, Glasgow
£22,996


To assist Chinese carers overcome language and cultural barriers in accessing health, social work and by encouraging their participation in social and community activities.


Total
£51,065


2005–06


Youth Counselling Services Agency, Glasgow
£29,645


To assist families and young people from the Chinese Community to access counselling information and advice.


Chinese Community Development Partnership, Glasgow
£21,345


To assist Chinese carers overcome language and cultural barriers in accessing health, social work and by encouraging their participation in social and community activities.


Total
£50,990


Grand Total for 2001–06
£231,269

Consumer Protection

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve procedures for dealing with complaints against lawyers.

Cathy Jamieson: We are developing a reform agenda which builds on the recommendations of the former Justice 1 Committee.

  We will issue a public consultation paper, by the end of the year, on our firm proposals to improve the complaints handling system.

Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is monitoring the use made by local authorities of the provisions within the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 since it came into force.

Tavish Scott: We are currently in the process of evaluating the effectiveness of the provisions contained in the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 with the assistance of a small Working Group comprising local authority officers including a representative from COSLA. A survey of local authorities will take place from October 2004 and we anticipate that the results will be available in the spring of 2005.

Education

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is scope for local authorities to work more effectively together in delivering education services.

Peter Peacock: Yes, there is no doubt that there is more they could do together and we want to encourage that.

Enterprise

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many business failures there have been in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority in each year since 1999.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Accountant in Bankruptcy maintains the Register of Insolvencies in Scotland. Details are held by sheriffdoms rather than local authority areas and are compiled by financial year. The following tables give the number of liquidations and receiverships for the financial years 1998-99 to 2003-04. Further information on liquidation and receivership is available in the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s Annual Report which is available at www.aib.gov.uk .

  

Sheriffdom
Sheriff Court
1998-99
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
Total


Glasgow and Strathkelvin
Glasgow 
60
92
87
123
102
42
506


Lothian and Borders
Edinburgh 
45
29
32
79
60
43
288


Duns
-
-
1
-
1
1
3


Haddington
3
4
2
3
4
5
21


Jedburgh
1
1
2
 
-
1
5


Linlithgow
5
7
10
9
10
6
47


Peebles
-
-
-
-
-
1
1


Selkirk
 
3
1
1
-
-
5


 
54
44
48
92
75
57
370


Grampian, Highland and Islands
Aberdeen
25
26
22
27
28
12
140


Banff
1
1
-
1
1
-
4


Dingwall
1
-
-
1
1
1
4


Dornoch
1
-
-
-
-
-
1


Elgin
3
1
3
2
1
1
11


Fort William
-
1
-
-
2
-
3


Inverness 
4
5
2
3
6
2
22


Kirkwall 
-
-
1
-
-
-
1


Lerwick
-
1
1
1
-
1
5


Lochmaddy
-
-
-
-
-
-
0


Peterhead
1
8
-
1
1
1
12


Portree
-
-
-
-
1
-
1


Stonehaven
-
1
3
2
4
1
11


Stornoway
-
-
-
2
-
-
2


Tain
-
1
1
-
-
-
2


Wick
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


 
36
45
33
40
45
20
219


North Strathclyde 
Campbeltown
1
2
-
-
-
-
3


Dumbarton
4
5
3
8
4
3
-


Dunoon
-
1
-
-
-
-
1


Greenock 
-
5
4
5
4
1
19


Kilmarnock 
7
13
12
11
14
7
64


Oban
1
1
-
-
-
-
2


Paisley 
14
11
14
27
13
11
90


Rothesay
-
-
2
-
-
-
-


 
27
38
35
51
35
22
208


South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway
Airdrie
10
7
8
6
16
6
53


Ayr 
2
7
12
14
11
2
48


Dumfries 
-
2
1
2
1
-
6


Hamilton 
18
25
27
37
28
14
149


Kirkcudbright
-
-
1
2
1
1
5


Lanark
-
2
-
7
1
1
11


Stranraer
1
1
-
-
-
-
2


 
30
44
50
68
58
24
274


Tayside Central and Fife
Alloa
3
-
-
5
3
1
12


Arbroath
1
4
-
-
-
2
7


Cupar
1
1
1
3
-
1
7


Dundee 
2
5
8
11
9
8
43


Dunfermline 
4
5
1
8
8
3
29


Falkirk 
4
4
8
12
10
5
43


Forfar
-
-
-
3
-
-
3


Kirkcaldy
3
-
5
7
7
2
24


Perth 
2
2
5
4
7
4
24


Stirling 
4
1
3
6
2
2
18


 
24
22
31
59
46
28
210


Court of Session
 
57
77
94
102
95
51
476


Totals
 
288
362
378
535
456
244
2,263



  There are 140 additional cases which are on the register but no court details are included. It is therefore not possible to include them in the table. The total is 2,403.

Environment

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the forthcoming Environmental Impact Assessment Bill will deliver a more accountable planning system.

Ross Finnie: The proposed Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Bill will ensure that all public plans, programmes and strategies likely to have significant environmental effects are subject to strategic environmental assessment.

  It is proposed that public authorities responsible for plans subject to the bill should be required to consult Historic Scotland, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage and the public on the environmental consequences of the alternative approaches under consideration. Further, they would then be required to demonstrate how they have taken account of every opinion expressed.

Equine Industry

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the bids for funding made by Oatridge College, Broxburn, to establish a Scottish Equestrian Performance Centre.

Mr Frank McAveety: This relates to an application for lottery funding from  sportscotland which is currently under consideration. Decisions on Lottery Sports Fund awards are for  sportscotland and ministers have no locus to intervene.

Fisheries

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what methodology is used by the "cod association" when calculating figures in respect of catches of west of Scotland cod and nephrops and whether such figures fairly reflect the by-catch of cod in the west of Scotland nephrops fishery.

Ross Finnie: Figures demonstrating the level of association between West of Scotland cod and Nephrops are calculated by comparing landings data for the two species, by ICES statistical rectangle and by the proportion of cod and Nephrops landed per individual trip. This enables the identification of those fisheries occurring in areas inhabited by Nephrops which could be described as mixed fisheries, where both Nephrops and a significant amount of cod is caught, and those where the catch landed is almost entirely comprised of Nephrops.

  The most recent complete data (for 2003) provide an accurate picture of the level of cod by-catch in the Nephrops fishery, which shows that some 75% of Nephrops trips accounting for about 80% of Nephrops landings, individually, have very low by-catch rates (1% cod) and, overall, account for a fractional amount of total west coast cod landings (about 1.5%). The remaining 25% of trips taking 20% of the Nephrops landings could be described as mixed fisheries and, while the rate of cod by-catch in these fisheries is still relatively low, these collectively account for some 13% of total landings of the depleted West of Scotland cod stock.

Flooding

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving to local authorities with regard to recent flood damage.

Tavish Scott: Local authorities have a general duty to deal with emergencies such as flooding, and there is no automatic entitlement to special assistance. In exceptional circumstances authorities can apply under the Bellwin Scheme for emergency assistance to meet any undue financial burden.

  Following representation from both Perth and Kinross Council and Stirling Council, I can confirm that the Bellwin Scheme has been activated by ministers today. Claims for eligible expenditure, under the terms of the scheme, will be considered by the Executive when they are received from the councils.

Genetically Modified Crops

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when the results of the farm-scale evaluations into the cultivation of genetically-modified winter-sown oil seed rape will be published.

Allan Wilson: The results for winter oilseed rape have been written up as scientific papers and submitted to the Proceedings of the Royal Society. The timing of the peer review process and the decision whether or not to publish the papers is at the discretion of the Royal Society. It is our understanding that publication is unlikely before early next year.

Housing

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the allocation procedures of rural housing associations.

Ms Margaret Curran: We have no plans at present to review all the allocation procedures of rural housing associations. However, as their regulator, Communities Scotland reviews each housing association’s allocation process in detail during an inspection. The findings from each inspection are published.

Housing

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in addressing the issue of overcrowding and increasing the supply of affordable housing to those affected.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Household Survey shows that the percentage of households who are overcrowded in Scotland fell by a quarter since 1999-2000 to stand at 3% in 2003.

  We legislated in the 2001 Housing Act to ensure all social landlords give reasonable preference in the allocation of houses to applicants who are overcrowded. Since 1999, over £1.3 billion has been invested through Communities Scotland to provide over 34,000 new and improved affordable homes.

Justice

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many court cases were adjourned in 2003-04 because the accused were deemed to be medically unfit to stand trial.

Cathy Jamieson: The information is not held centrally.

Justice

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures are in place to verify claims from defence teams that the accused is medically unfit to stand trial.

Cathy Jamieson: It is for the presiding sheriff/judge to be satisfied on the evidence before them that an accused is medically unfit to stand trial.

  The evidence is usually in the form of a medical report and/or certificate from a suitably qualified doctor/consultant.

Justice

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many criminal justice social workers have been employed by local authorities in each of the last five years and how many are currently employed.

Euan Robson: Figures from the statistical bulletin, Staff of Scottish Local Authority Services 2003 ( http://194.247.95.101/stats/bulletins/00355.pdf ), show whole-time equivalent (WTE) criminal justice social workers numbers as follows:

  

1999
2000
2001
2002
2003


1,160
1,182
1,241
1,310
1,452



  Figures for the 2004 bulletin are still being accumulated, but our most recent trawl of responses from 25 of the 32 local authorities indicated that WTE posts in offender services increased by around 8% between October 2003 and July 2004 and that vacancies reduced by 10% during the same period. The trend is encouraging but we recognise that we need to sustain our help to the sector in order to obtain the confident and competent staff of sufficient numbers needed to meet the challenges.

Lottery Funding

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had, or plans to have, discussions with the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regarding funding for activities that will deliver the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive is in regular dialogue with the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland (HLF), regarding the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, through the HLF’s membership of the Strategy Steering Group of the Scottish Biodiversity Forum. Since its establishment the Heritage Lottery Fund has supported 83 wildlife and nature conservation projects in Scotland, with a total value of £32,669,251. The role of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on this matter is to issue Policy Directions to the Heritage Lottery Fund following consultation with the Scottish Executive.

Ministerial Visits

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre a report regarding the visits undertaken by four of its ministers as part of the Scotland in the Netherlands series of events.

Mr Andy Kerr: A full evaluation of the Scotland in the Netherlands events will take place throughout the programme. This will include any ministerial involvement and will be available on the Scottish Executive website and in the Parliament’s Reference Centre in spring 2005.

National Health Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the membership of NHS boards is made up of employees of those boards.

Malcolm Chisholm: The proportion of NHS board members who are NHS employees and who are referred to as executive directors is approximately 41%.

Physical Education

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage sport and physical education in schools.

Peter Peacock: We are investing significant funding in active schools and have made a firm commitment to offer at least two hours of higher quality physical education to every young person.

  Both of these initiatives aim to address the poor levels of physical activity in our young people.

Planning

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role areas of green belt play in the management of urban change.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Green belts fulfil a number of functions. For example, they can maintain the landscape setting of settlements, and they can also encourage the re-use of vacant or derelict urban land.

Planning

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to protect and enhance green space in urban areas.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Scottish Executive already has in place planning policy and guidance designed to protect and enhance open spaces.

  The partnership agreement commits us to setting minimum standards for open space in new developments. This work will feed into the revision of planning policy on open space.

Planning

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications from local authorities have been submitted to it for planning permission for development on areas of green space in the last five years.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Such information may, however, be obtained from individual planning authorities.

Police

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Executive has any plans for a national police force.

Mr Jack McConnell: We reviewed the existing eight force structure in 2000 and concluded that there was not a case for moving to a single force. However, we are reforming the structure of common police services and are introducing efficiencies that will concentrate resources to front line services.

Police

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Fife Constabulary has incurred costs associated with royal protection duties and, if so, what these costs have been and how they have been met.

Cathy Jamieson: As I recently stated in Parliament, the policy of the UK Government and the Executive is not to comment on, or otherwise disclose details of, protection measures that are in place for royalty and other public figures as to do so could compromise their security and play into the hands of those who might wish to intimidate or cause them harm.

Population

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the first supplementary question to question S2O-3116 by Mr Jim Wallace on 8 September 2004, whether the reversal of demographic trends to encourage more people to stay and work in Scotland is now its implicit target and to what extent it expects to improve on current population forecasts.

Mr Andy Kerr: Population forecasts on the basis of current demographic trends indicate that, in the absence of a policy response to address this, the Scottish population is likely to fall in coming years. Through the Fresh Talent initiative to encourage talented individuals to live, work and study in Scotland we aim to maintain the Scottish population at a roughly stable level, although clearly the precise population figure in any one year will be affected by birth and death rates as well as migration flows.

Rail Network

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the handover of the ScotRail franchise.

Nicol Stephen: I met with the managing director of the new franchise holder yesterday. The date for handover is 17 October and good progress is being made.

Renewable Energy

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what direct financial benefit will accrue to it from renewable energy developments.

Lewis Macdonald: Fees payable by developers under the section 36 consent procedures are paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund. The level of such fees are set out in the Electricity (Application for Consent) Regulations 1990.

Research

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to establish a Scottish body to carry out, administer or fund agricultural and biological research and what the objectives will be of any such body.

Allan Wilson: Consultation with a wide range of stakeholders on the draft strategy for Agricultural, Biological and Related Research closed on Friday 10 September. The draft strategy considers the future structure of the Department’s relationship with its main research providers but there is no proposal to establish a body to administer or fund research.

Scotland

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total area of Scotland is in square kilometres, calculated on the same basis as the World Health Organization’s European health for all database.

Allan Wilson: The total area of Scotland in square kilometres, extrapolated from the World Health Organization’s European Health for All database figure for the UK, is 79,861km 2 .

Security Industry

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with Her Majesty’s Government in respect of the inclusion of Scotland in the remit of the Security Industry Authority.

Cathy Jamieson: I have been in contact with Home Office Ministers over the summer about the need for the remit of the Security Industry Authority to be extended to include Scotland at the earliest opportunity.

Self-Esteem

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what new steps it will take to increase individual and national self-esteem, in light of the Scotecon and Demos reports on self-esteem.

Peter Peacock: I am committed to promoting confidence and self-esteem in individuals and at all levels of Scottish life. This commitment informs a wide range of our policies – including the promotion of, for example, ambition and an enterprising attitude in our children and young people; entrepreneurialism and business start-ups, and an open and inclusive Scotland that attracts Fresh Talent and is confident of its place in the wider world.

  The Scotecon and Demos reports will help to inform our thinking in this area.

Substance Misuse

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to reduce substance misuse amongst offenders.

Hugh Henry: The Executive has introduced a range of new initiatives to tackle substance misuse amongst offenders in the community, including roll-out of drug treatment and testing orders, piloting of drug courts and providing extra support to arrest referral schemes. Together with existing provisions such as probation with a condition of drug treatment, these seek to assist offenders to address their drug misuse. There are a range of programmes and approved activities in our prisons which also address alcohol, smoking and drug addiction problems.

Telecommunications

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will require Network Rail to obtain planning permission for the construction of digital telecommunication masts.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Under the Town and Country planning (General permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992, Network Rail have permitted development rights which remove the need to obtain planning permission for a wide range of works on their operational land required in connection with the movement of traffic by rail. We have no plans at present to pursue amendments to these permitted development rights.

Telecommunications

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many telecommunication masts using the TETRA standard will be located within Scotland and where they will be located.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Airwave project, which is rolling out a communications infrastructure for use by the emergency services, uses TETRA technology and will involve some 632 sites in Scotland. The Scottish Executive does not hold information on the location of these sites. However, as the sites become operational, information on them will appear on the Ofcom "sitefinder" database at:

  http://www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk/ .

Tourism

Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to promote environment-related tourism.

Mr Frank McAveety: Yes - VisitScotland’s marketing already uses Scotland’s wonderful environment to attract more visitors to experience it for themselves. Exceeding the expectations of these visitors is crucial to the long-term growth of tourism, and our environment and its richly diverse wildlife are key to doing that. I launched the Wild Scotland website in August in John’s constituency – another great asset for businesses, giving them another opportunity to promote Scotland’s fantastic natural resources to visitors with a passion for the environment.

Tourism

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what strategy it has to develop Edinburgh as a "must see" tourist destination.

Mr Frank McAveety: VisitScotland, Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board and the City of Edinburgh Council work together to promote Edinburgh as a world class destination. 2004 is proving to be a great year for visitors to the capital, and we wish to build on that partnership through the new tourism network to ensure that tourism in Edinburgh continues to grow strongly in the years ahead.

Trade Unions

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it values the involvement of trade unions in economic development.

Lewis Macdonald: We value the important role trade unions play in improving Scotland’s productivity and contributing to economic growth. Our determination to work with the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), and trade unions generally, is reflected in Partnership Agreement commitments on the economy and skills and learning.

  In addition, the STUC are key stakeholders in the Executive policy making process, including the recent revision of the Framework for Economic Development and the current refresh of A Smart Successful Scotland. Trade unions are also represented on a number of specific sectoral or economic development groups at both national and local level.

Transport

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce congestion and develop public transport in Dundee.

Nicol Stephen: Dundee City Council and the local bus operators are signatories to a concordat, signed in May this year, which commits all parties to work jointly together in the promotion of public transport within the city. In tandem with this, a range of measures are already being delivered under the council’s Bringing Confidence to Public Transport (BCPT) and SmartBus projects, supported by the Executive’s Public Transport Fund, and more are planned. These include real time information, a major bus infrastructure programme and the installation of CCTV cameras on all Dundee buses.

Waste Management

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which landfill sites are licensed to take contaminated waste and, of these, which are also licensed to take non-hazardous waste.

Ross Finnie: This information is not held centrally. The licensing of landfill sites is an operational matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Waste Management

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether regulations controlling the use of sewage sludge will be reviewed and, if so, when.

Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-10391 on 13 September 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Waste Management

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how sewage sludge is disposed of and in which locations.

Ross Finnie: The member will appreciate the difference between disposal and recycling or recovery. In terms of pure disposal, now that dumping at sea has been banned the remaining permissible routes are landfill and incineration (without energy recovery).

  Recycling and recovery methods include spreading on agricultural land as a nutrient and soil enhancer for agricultural crops, on non-agricultural land (such as forestry) for similar reasons, and use in land restoration, for example in restoring opencasts. Sewage sludge is also burned as a fuel, which is a form of energy recovery.

  While the Scottish Executive is aware of various activities involving sewage sludge, it does not regulate individual activities and consequently full information about locations, or indeed about whether all the routes described above are actually used, is not held centrally. Sewage sludge is, however, a waste and consequently all the activities described above are covered by various waste management regimes. These regimes are operational matters for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Young People

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to publish its youth strategy.

Euan Robson: The partnership agreement gives a commitment to encourage the active participation of young people through the development of a national strategy for youth work.

  The Executive is encouraged by the interest around the strategy. Discussions with stakeholders are progressing and broader consultation is anticipated over the next few months.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Healthy Living Initiative

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what support it provides for MSPs’ staff in respect of its healthy living initiative.

Duncan McNeil (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): As the employer, the health and well-being of members’ staff is the responsibility of individual members.

  Under the members’ allowances scheme, the SPCB sets a number of minimum terms and conditions on which members may employ their staff. These are in place to ensure compliance with the law and general good employment practice. Members are free to improve on these and can, therefore, replicate the healthy living initiative for their own staff if they wish.

Healthy Living Initiative

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has any plans to provide up to £248.00 per annum to MSPs’ staff in order that they can benefit from the healthy living initiative.

Duncan McNeil (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The SPCB has no plans to enhance the minimum terms and conditions upon which members may employ staff, as set out in the members allowances scheme. However, as employers in their own right, members are free to improve on the minimum terms and conditions and can, therefore, replicate the SPCB’s healthy living and well-being initiative for their staff if they so wish. All associated costs would be a call on the members support allowance.